Field
Aspects of the present invention are generally related to communication technology.
Description of the Related Art
Recently, there have been increasing cases where an electronic device such as a digital camera, a printer, a smartphone etc., is equipped with a wireless communication function and uses the wireless communication function to connect to a wireless network.
In order to connect an electronic device to a wireless network, it is necessary to set various communication parameters such as an encryption method, an encryption key, an authentication method, an authentication key, etc. There has been devised a technique that facilitates setting of these communication parameters. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2014-60623 has proposed a technique with which a smartphone reads a QR Code® displayed on a home appliance indicating a communication parameter, and sets the read communication parameter in an access point (hereinafter referred to as AP).
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2014-60623, once the communication parameter has been set in the AP, a communication apparatus newly participating in a wireless network of the AP has to acquire the communication parameter again from the smartphone or the home appliance. In this method, in order for a user to enable a new communication apparatus to participate in the wireless network of the AP, the user needs to operate the communication apparatus and a device other than the AP (the smartphone or the home appliance), and consequently, it is not a user-friendly method.